It has long been recognized that lighting is an art as well as a science. Illumination from daylight or electric lights enables one to see anywhere, at any time. However, lighting is not merely utilitarian; it is also an art. Lighting as an art has always been an integral part of the theater or the photographer's set, for example.
Modern lighting design goes far beyond these narrow applications, however. Modern lighting design is broadly concerned with not only providing light for the visual tasks to be performed, but also with creating a balanced, comfortable and aesthetically appealing environment, coordinated with the decorative and architectural scheme of the space which the lighting is a part. Today, lighting as an art has brought a more subtle enhancement to the illumination of homes, restaurants, lobbies,. offices, museums, arenas, gardens, terminals, vehicles and, in fact, every kind of space used by people.
To meet the demands of lighting as an art, there is a need for lighting fixtures which give the lighting designer the necessary flexibility and range of aesthetic choice to achieve his design. At the same time, economic considerations dictate that the lighting fixtures be simple and easy to realize in practice.
The present invention meets the needs of the lighting designer by offering unrestrained design flexibility, while simultaneously meeting the practical and economic constraints of any design project. The present invention offers an easily-configurable lighting fixture that uses a small number of components, which keeps inventory and costs down, but enables that small number of components to be interconnected and configured in shapes, styles and combinations that are virtually unlimited.